Senator Joseph McCarthy’s career as mega-liar and illusionist began to definitively unravel on June 9, 1954, when an attorney for the U.S. Army, Joseph Welch, pressed the indignant question: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”  

The name Condoleezza Rice should evoke indignation and disgust for as long as decent people remember the four victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, in Birmingham, 1963. Rice’s obscene attempt to conflate Black Birmingham’s pain and the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq places her beyond the pale of decency. As we wrote in last week’s e-Mailbox column, “Rice has crossed the line from sycophancy to blasphemy.”  

Although Rice’s NABJ speech was a singular assault on the collective, sacred memories of African Americans, when viewed in the context of the administration she serves, her remarks are just more dung on the pile. New York City writer Margaret Kimberley stepped away from the stench for a wider political view, in her August 14 commentary, Condoleezza Rice and the Birmingham Bombing Victims.”  

I was initially dismayed at Rice’s attempt to link American imperialism with the human rights struggles of this country, but upon further reflection I was not at all surprised. The modus operandi of George W. Bush has always been to use black people at the most opportune moments. Are poll numbers falling? Bring Ugandan AIDS orphans to the White House. Is there a need to fool moderates into believing that you are indeed the compassionate conservative? Hold a Republican Party convention that features T.D. Jakes and Chaka Khan. What to do on those all too rare occasions when the Democrats find it within themselves to speak out against the administration? Visit a black church, school or community organization and create yet another photo opportunity with brown faces….  

While Rice’s comments were not a surprise to Bush watchers they should not go unchallenged. Does she really believe that those who opposed the war in Iraq are comparable to those who kill innocent children to further the cause of white supremacy?

Greg McDonald writes from Guadalajara, Mexico, were he currently lives and teaches.

I have a quick thought about Condoleezza Rice's comparison between Iraq and “Bombingham.”

I grew up in the Bombingham area (after the bombings had stopped, and just a few years behind the good Doctor) and doubt she would follow her own logic, but I’ll lay it out for you nonetheless:

Problems:
1) Bull Connor and his ilk defied international and federal law repeatedly and willfully.
2) The leadership of the city of Birmingham maintained power through fear and intimidation.
3) Prominent Birminghamsters gave succor to those who wished to export violence and defiance of the law to other parts of the US.
4) Birmingham's problems were a test of US resolve.

Solution:
Rain fire on Birmingham and follow that up with a savage occupation, which ignores the problems it was ostensibly instituted to address.

Had Eisenhower, Kennedy, or Johnson followed Dubyah's lead, there is more than a slight chance that neither Dr Rice nor myself would be alive today to debate the future of the benighted peoples of the globe.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Keep the Truth coming!  

We also took issue with those who insist that, her evil mission and mangled morals notwithstanding, it must be granted that Dr. Rice is one smart, ladder-climbing cookie. We disagree, based on the assumption that even Lucifer did not intend to fall into everlasting Hellfire, disgraced beyond redemption. “The White House National Security Advisor is a fool and a fake intellectual,” we wrote.  

Our belittling of Rice’s intellect struck a wrong chord with Michael S. Coray, Ph.D., Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, University of Nevada.  

Some of the commentary regarding Dr. Rice is, in my view, entirely off base.  She is an extremely intelligent scholar, and has been a proven administrator in the higher education setting.  She is also a leading neocon, an architect of neocon foreign and domestic policy, tutor to the president, and keeper of the codes that must be used to get to a “face-to-face” with the president. 

Many of us may not like her politics or her pandering – but she exhibits the typical style of neocon arrogance, denial of responsibility, and the shaping of historical arguments to fit the expedients of perceived realities and audiences – however banal that practice might be. 

Why is it so difficult to accept the simple premise that some of the black folks entrenched in this administration are as truly dangerous as the whites who head it?  They are intelligent ideologues, capable of mounting their own agendas under the rubric of a political philosophy with which they are in accord. 

Linking Baghdad and Birmingham might, at first glance, be shocking.  But doing so is not surprising.  Rather, it is simply confirmation of neocon duplicity.  

’s reply to Dr. Coray:  

There are many kinds of intelligence, and none of us possess the full quota in any category. It is obvious that Dr. Rice has learned well the language, thought processes and "codes" of the class she serves – evidence of a certain kind of intelligence. But her political barometers do not function in an African American environment. She would have better served her masters and herself by refusing to dabble in grotesque civil rights revisionism, at the NABJ convention. Her remarks were an insult to Black sensibilities, and were generally received as such. Not a smart move. She and her bosses badly misperceived the audience (if, indeed, Blacks were the primary audience for her speech). Outside of her corporate, neo-con circle, Rice rates a very low political I.Q.  

New York City reader Paula M writes:  

Having just watched an ABC special last night, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's Washington DC speech, and re-experiencing the horror and shame I felt as a teenager when viewing the despicable actions of Montgomery, Alabama officials, I applaud Ms. Kimberley's clear-eyed and brutally honest piece about Dr. Condoleezza Rice.  Forty years have passed, and now we have Black Americans in positions of "power" – the White House, the Supreme Court, etc., etc.  "Power" as long as they are also puppets of our current administration and its nefarious hypocrisy and lies.  

Charles I. Cross, of Michigan, offers an even more blunt assessment of Dr. Rice.

I have long maintained that her name is really Condosleezy Lice!!  Given the way she slavishly looks at King Gorge IV, no other name fits her.  

We can I.D. with that.  

New phase in Iraq

Reality conspires daily against the Bush men’s impossible Iraqi dreams. History’s most purely corporate military offensive, based on numbers and concepts alien to the human experience, disintegrates before our eyes more rapidly than the speed of spin. “The Pirate’s fantasy of Dallas and Houston on the Euphrates is finished, over, done,” said our August 28 commentary, “Racist ‘Transformation’ Strategies: The Pirates have already lost in Iraq.” We noted that even courageous organizations such as Doctors Without Borders were folding up their tents in Iraq for safer outposts in Kuwait.  

The Pirates dreamed of a corporate version of the Oklahoma land rush descending on Baghdad and Basra. The traffic is all headed in the other direction, especially in the wake of the United Nations bombing….

The Pirates have not penetrated one inch into Iraqi civil society. U.S. recruitment of Saddam’s former secret police (see Washington Post, August 24) is proof that occupation authorities feel surrounded and helpless against the popular forces that have been set in motion in Iraq, and will soon abandon a policy of co-optation in favor of assassination and fomenting civil war. The final nail will be driven into the coffin of the corporate “transformation” of Iraq, and events will unfold along the more familiar paths of national resistance to occupation.  

is published on Thursdays. On Friday, August 29, the mosque in Najaf was bombed, and this letter arrived from reader Susan Balmer.  

I loved the article and it does seem the author is "clairvoyant.”  Under the subtitle "Lost Cause" he/she mentioned "fomenting civil war."  Given today's bomb exploding in Iraq, one has to wonder.  

The U.S. and its agents are absent from the long list of “suspects” obediently bandied about by the U.S. corporate media. Yet the U.S. was implicated in a very similar bombing in a similarly chaotic Arab place – Lebanon – in 1985. At the time, the Reagan regime was desperately seeking revenge for a series of horrific attacks, including the 1983 Marine barracks bombing (242 dead). A truck bomb at a U.S. Embassy annex near Beirut killed 24 people, including two Americans, in September, 1984 – apparently setting U.S. covert agents on a car bombing mission of their own. Here’s a report from to PBS Frontline. 

The U.S. mounted no military response to the embassy annex bombing, but it did begin to explore covert operations in Lebanon. Investigative journalist Bob Woodward says that the CIA trained foreign intelligence agents to act as "hit teams" designed to destroy the terrorists' operations. Ambassador Robert Oakley says the U.S. merely attempted to set up a "protective unit," a Lebanese counterterrorist strike force.

President Reagan and the CIA called off covert operations when Lebanese intelligence operatives -- some allegedly trained by the U.S. -- set off a car bomb on March 8, 1985, in an attempted murder of Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the Shiite Muslim cleric who some believed to be the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. Over 80 people were killed in the attack near a Beirut mosque. Fadlallah survived.

Many blamed the CIA for the attack, saying it had directed the intelligence operatives to carry it out. Robert McFarlane, President Reagan's national security adviser, says that the operatives who carried out the attack on Fadlallah may have been trained by the U.S., but the individuals who carried it out were "rogue operative[s]," and the CIA in no way sanctioned or supported the attack.

Whether the U.S. had a hand in last week’s Najaf bombing or not, it is a fool’s (or liar’s) game to leave the Americans off the list of “usual suspects” – especially in light of their policy of hiring Saddam Hussein’s former secret police, one of many ready-made crews of “rogue operatives.” To this number one should add the hundreds of exile mercenaries brought into Iraq to accompany Pentagon darling Ahmad Chalabi, as well as the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, Iranian rebels cultivated by both Hussein and the U.S.  

Alas, complicated thoughts are beyond the capacities of the corporate media. Per Fagereng, of Portland, Oregon, writes:  

That was an excellent article on the empire's strategies. It tells me that the empire is finished, which other commentators have said but not always so clearly.  

replied:  

Yes, we can finally see the broad outlines of the end. The impossible task is to put together scenarios in which the empire's back is not broken. The Pirates truly need the anesthetic of their delusions to maintain their morale, since objective reality is definitely not on their side.

Trojan Horse Watch  

Cynthia McKinney isn’t just a prolific speechmaker – she’s good.  The former Georgia Congresswoman is capable of infinite variations on her central political themes, turning out new and stimulating live essays several times a week. In Detroit for Women’s Equality Day, McKinney applied lessons of Greek mythology to contemporary American politics, which appeared in the August 28 issue of as, “Beware the Trojan Horse.” She sums up the tale of her defeat by Denise Majette in last August’s Democratic primary.

[T]hese good ol’ boy strategists set about to find a Trojan Horse.  And this time, they hit upon what they considered to be a winner: in my case, another black woman who would in actuality be one of them.  Imagine it.  Good ol’ boys from the bad ol’ days making bad ol’ girls for today.  

Now legend has it, that for ten years the Greeks laid siege on Troy and for ten years they couldn’t get through.  But only when they decided to fool the people of Troy, and send in an offensive war machine cloaked in a peace offering did they project themselves past a stiff Troy defense.  

Meanwhile, Troy believes that because it’s won every battle for the past ten years that it has defeated the Greeks.  Troy didn’t realize that the Greeks had planned one more battle and that one would win the war.  

So, in my last election, 48,000 Republicans crossed over and voted in the Democratic Primary….  

But even as they revel in their successes, I would warn them, Don’t mistake a mere battle for the war.  

There’s no question that McKinney has a national audience. Cynthia Smith comments, from Allen, Texas.  

I feel uplifted by this speech, full of fire in the face of these brave women. I believe Congresswoman McKinney brought up the best theory, that we women have not lost our souls.

Being "born 'n raised" in Texas, surrounded by good ol' boys, I had begun to feel overwhelmed by the corruption, greed and steady stream of lies and hate.

I do feel, though, a small shift in the tide.  Light is slowly dawning in the conscience of many Americans, who are beginning to realize the fight we are in.  A fight for the soul of our country.

Felonious lending

Organizers of 160,000-member ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, have targeted banking giant Wells Fargo as the predatory lender most in need of regulation. In last weeks commentary, Predators in the Neighborhood: Brand name lenders join the bottom feeders,” we explained how the “blue chip gangs of Wall Street engage in wholesale entrapment to both increase the number of people that can be charged the highest rates and prevent them from escaping back to prime territory.” Bad credit risks, the corporate philosophy goes, are good business.

As if there were not enough truly poor people to exploit, banks steer customers who should qualify for loans at 6 or 7 percent rates to their subprime subsidiaries, where the menu starts at 10 or 12 percent and gets more expensive as the extras are piled on the plate. At a Wells Fargo office, loans may exceed the value of the customer’s total equity. “Borrowers who are loaned more than 100% of the value of their home are effectively trapped in that loan or package of loans, no matter how detrimental the terms,” said ACORN President Hurd.  

Subprime lending is the growth sector of U.S. finance capital – simply because that’s where the super-profits are. The blue chip gangs of Wall Street engage in wholesale entrapment to both increase the number of people that can be charged the highest rates and prevent them from escaping back to prime territory.  

Black households possess only one-eighth the wealth of whites, most of that derived directly or indirectly through generations of accrued home equity. “Although Black home ownership stands at 48 percent (compared to about three-quarters of whites),” we wrote, “collective Black equity is eroded by the terms of the predators – a lasting negative legacy.”  

Russell Camp says the crooks are all wearing suits, these days.  

As usual your article was excellent. It is refreshing to hear that the propaganda being put forth by the corporate media is not being believed by everyone. The working poor are always the target of the bottom feeders.  What is different in these times is the fact that the so-called respectable financial institutions have tossed ethics out the window in the pursuit of profit at any cost to society. If the economy was truly in recovery these tactics would not be necessary.  

Robin Simpson has some experience with lenders on the make.

A disgraceful view of those "friendly" lenders!

May I add the disgraceful tactics of the credit card issuing banks? Twelve years ago I worked for a small bank that issued less than 50,000 credit cards. I learned a lot from that job. They acted fairly and handled disputes and finance charge rates in an honorable fashion. Needless to say, they were bought out by a bigger bank, which in turn merged with an even larger bank and my view of credit cards has changed forever.

The so-called low interest rates come with some very fine print rules (or they just send a generic looking letter explaining their rules). One late payment, one over the credit limit error (which conveniently got approved) will drastically increase your finance charges.

In 1989 new tax rules forbid credit card interest from being a write-off.

Recently Bush implemented a new rule regarding bankruptcies which allows these issuing banks to get their money after a person files bankruptcy.

With interest rates averaging in the 20s the amount of revenue is astronomical. As a former (and very brief) collector I learned that the so-called "high risk" involved in extending credit is basically bogus. The banks right off, for tax purposes, a certain percentage of defaults. The money they then collect via outside collection agencies is a pure bonus.

Knowing that credit cards are needed in today's society (renting a car, booking a hotel room, establishing a credit history, etc.) they make out like bandits and our wonderful President gives them an added bonus!

All of these practices should be stopped. The question is how? And what about the national debt? Bush astonished most Americans with the amazing increase in the deficit budget, yet allows the general public to be penalized for small errors and/or debt problems! What message does he send? That citizens don't matter, just the elite few that happen to contribute to his campaigns.

We are under scrutiny of credit checks for not only loans, but employment, insurance, renting an apartment and the list goes on.

All Americans need to band together and fight back!  

In defense of (some) “Magic Negro” films  

Rita Kempley’s “Magic Negro Saves the Day – but at the cost of his soul,” reprinted in our July 3 issue from the Black Filmmakers Foundation-sponsored site, DVRepublic, caused quite a summer stir. Ms. Kempley’s point about magical Blacks who redeem white people “isn't that the actors or the roles aren't likable, valuable or redemptive, but they are without interior lives.” For example:  

Cedric Robinson, author of "Black Marxism" and a colleague of Bobo's at UCSB, says, "Males, more problematic in the American imagination, have become ghostly. The black male simply orbits above the history of white supremacy. He has no roots, no grounding. In that context, black anger has no legitimacy, no real justification. The only real characters are white. Blacks are kind of like Tonto, whose name meant fool."  

Audiences – black and white – seem to be accepting of these one-note roles, judging by the financial success of "Bringing Down the House," which brought in about $130 million, and "Bruce Almighty," which has raked in $149 million and was ranked No. 2 at the box office.  

And yet other viewers and most critics were appalled by the extreme odd-couple comedy "Bringing Down the House," in which Charlene (Latifah), an obnoxious escaped con, invades the staid bourgeois universe of Peter (Martin), the uptight suburbanite.  

Charlene not only shows Peter how to jump, jive and pleasure a woman, but teaches his son to read (a nudie magazine piques the tyke's interest), saves his daughter from a date-rapist and then reunites him with his estranged wife. And she does it all while pretending to be Peter's maid.  

Michelle Lewis came across the Kempley piece, and took offense. She’s a filmmaker herself, and familiar with the Magic Negro genre.  

This is nothing new. This is the case with every Hollywood film. For the most part, these films are written and directed by non-blacks. That's why it's so important for black people to support black filmmakers, but when you give them an opportunity to support a black filmmaker, (particularly a black female filmmaker), they make up all kinds of excuses NOT to help. I personally know black women that will support a black man to tell ‘Her Story’ over another black woman. Happens all the time.

I find it interesting that the black female author of this article harped so heavily on Bringing Down the House, which I thought was the exception out of all those other   films. Firstly, every single group in that movie was stereotyped - black men, white men, white women, Latinos, teenagers, Jews, everybody - not only the black female character. It was a spoof built on stereotypes and a damn good one at that. Believe it or not, we black people are not the only people who get stereotyped. (Fat women are usually stereotyped in film – and in real life – but surprisingly in BDTH, Latifah's character wasn't. Nice!) I applauded when Queen Latifah broke 100 mil on both this film and “Chicago.” Proof that black woman can make it in film. That's good news for me, as a black female writer/director/producer who is making films about black women. Hurrah!

So why are so many black people prone to negativity about blacks (women in particular), when the greatest of offenses in film have been perpetrated by black men? BDTH was a comedy. The Green Mile, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and countless numbers other recent films, starring that “black magic man" have done way more damage because they were dramatic works. Moviegoers are generally dismissive of comedy, but they see drama as true to life.

Why is this black female writer, so quick to take out her frustrations on the one black woman in Hollywood, who starred and executive produced a successful film, when there is proof that there are countless other films which have starred many leading and more established black men, who have made greater “black mythical-spiritual-magical offenses to change the souls of grateful white people?”

It's clear to me that some black women believe black men are so fragile, they keep truth away from them, they coddle them. Their solution is to come down harder on other black women whenever they find an opportunity. I find this offensive. I especially find it disrespectful to black men.  

We hope we’ve had a generally edifying – if not magical – effect upon our valued readers, this week.  

Keep writing.  

gratefully acknowledges the following organizations for sending visitors our way during the past week:  

Take Back The Media

Information Clearing House

Sons of Afrika

September 4, 2003
Issue 54

is published every Thursday.